


Softly Smile

by Writing_squiggle



Series: We're So Close [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: A bunch of ocs - Freeform, F/M, Female Reader, Loss of Limbs, Mental Instability, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-17 13:23:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9326684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_squiggle/pseuds/Writing_squiggle
Summary: I know she must be kind~------------------------~After walking away from your old job, home, and life you become a vigilante. Hunting from city to city righting wrongs you catch the eye of now reformed Overwatch. Your presence also seems to have captivated the Shambali monk.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the start of my Zenyatta Reader fic. This should be around seven or eight chapters unless i decide to keep going with this. This chapter is pretty Hanzo heavy but it will quickly go into Zenyatta territory.

The burly Japanese man hoisted his bow onto his shoulder, quickly pulling the arrows from the targets. After sliding them into his quiver he quickly hustled down the halls to the current commander of Overwatch. Knocking at the scientist’s door he entered as soon as he was called in.  
  
“Hanzo,” the large gorilla pushed his glasses higher on his nose, “let me just finish this.”  
  
Hanzo stood, his arms crossed behind his back as Winston tightened the last screw on the invention in front of him.  
  
“How can I help?” Winston pushed himself away from the desk, the wheels in his chair whirling away.  
  
“Did you get my message?” his pose relaxed slightly.  
  
“Yeah,” his hands absentmindedly tapped on his hairy thighs, “I had Athena run a search on her.”  
  
A holographic image projected in the middle of the room, as the AI started talking in her smooth voice.  
  
“Her childhood seems to be pretty average, graduated with a high average in school. She worked an average office job until about seven years ago where she quit her job and sold all of her possessions, including her house. She wasn’t seen again for another six months where she appeared and interfered with the assassination of the Prime Minister of Canada while on tour in the omnic community of Montreal. She killed the assassin and quickly disappeared from the city, but her vigilante activity can be traced from there.”  
  
“You recommend her for Overwatch?” Winston stared at the archer.  
  
“I do,” he rubbed his nose, remembering the ache of the punch he had received a long time ago, “I would also recommend that she be kept apart from some of the morally questionable people we have here. She refuses to harm civilians as well, even as collateral, but she would do well in the more heroic missions.”  
  
“How’d you meet her?”  
  
“She interfered with a job of mine, years ago,” he looked at your picture, memories flooding over him.  
  
“She noticed me in one of the buildings and stood between the mark and me. Staring at me I decided to run. She grappled to me and chased me through the Tokyo skyline.”  
  
“After several hours of this she cornered me,” he remembered the cold wind whipping around him and the fatigue in his muscles as he waited for her to kill him, “She punched me in the face and then lectured me about how killing people is wrong.”  
  
“It wasn’t until I looked her up later how lucky I was, she’ll hunt people down to the death.”  
  
“My current estimates place her at San Francisco,” Athena chimed in.  
  
“Very well, bring Soldier 76 and Zenyatta. I’m seeing reports that Talon is becoming more active in that area.”  
  
Hanzo lowered his head a little and left quickly to find the others.  
  
Sitting in the dropship with the two others, hearing the chimes of Zenyatta’s orbs as he meditated and the rhythmic sound of Soldier 76 check his weapon he slid into memories.  
  
_His hair fluttered in the strong breeze as the woman finally cornered him, his eyes closed as he waited for the death he craved since he took the blade to his brother. Instead a sick cracking nose rang through the air as her fist connected with his nose. His eyes opened in shock and watched the blood drip from his nose onto the rooftop. He looked up to see the woman placing her hands on her hips._  
  
_“You should probably find another career, didn’t your mother tell you that murdering people is bad.”_  
  
_“My mother had me trained to be this way.”_  
  
_“Well, then.” her face brightened with a smile as she reached out to help him up, “You have a pretty shitty family.”_  
  
_More then you know, he thought as he took her hand._  
  
“I know her,” Hanzo was snapped out of his thoughts by Soldier 76’s gruff voice piping up, “she was in Dorado a few years ago. Completely annihilated ten of Los Muertos trying to beat an omnic.”  
  
“It appears I am the only one at disadvantage,” Zenyatta said, his orbs realigning at his neck.  
  
Soldier 76’s and Hanzo’s bodies jolted forward as the dropship landed, Athena’s voice rang through the ship.  
  
“A police report from a few days ago place her near the omnic district, where she defended a human-Omnic couple from attack.”  
  
“Omnics tend to be more affected by crime,” Zenyatta chimed in, “it would make sense for her to prowl those areas from what I’ve heard of her.”  
  
“We won’t find her in the dropship,” 76 growled, “let’s move out.”  
  
The three of them made their way to the Omnic district, keeping an eye out as they walked up and down the hills. As they moved further into the district it was clear that the two heavily armed humans weren’t welcome, it seemed the only reason they hadn’t been aggressively thrown out was the Shambali monk floating next to them.  
  
Noticing a human woman, nursing an eye swollen shut, with an Omnic standing next to her holding a bag of ice in his robotic hand. As the group made their way to the couple she jumped up in fear, her dark curly hair swishing behind her as she hid behind the Omnic. He rested his hand on her hip as he pulled her close.  
  
“Do not be afraid,” Zenyatta spoke first, holding out one of his orbs of harmony for the woman to take, “we mean no harm.”  
  
Her hand reached out for it, and as she held it the swelling quickly faded away. Their body posture quickly relaxed.  
  
“Thank you,” the pair of them said.  
  
“We’re looking for someone,” Soldier 76, “we don’t want to harm them either.”  
  
Hanzo began quickly describing the vigilante and watch as recognition sparked in the woman’s eye.  
  
“That woman that saved us the other day,” the woman handed the orb back as her eye was healed, “I don’t know where she is now but I can probably find out.”  
  
“There’s no need for that,” the three of them whipped around, noticing the reason they were there standing casually.  
  
You stood there with your hand on your dirtied jeans, your jacket was cut to just above the elbow to accommodate the grappling hook that’s latched to your dominant hand. Stains were splattered across your fraying shirt, though part of it was covered by the fur lining the jacket on the ends of the sleeves, neck, and where it ended just underneath your bust.  
  
“This wasn’t that subtle,” you walked up to them, hand on the gun tucked into the bag wrapped around your thigh.  
  
“Especially for you two,” pointing at Hanzo and Soldier 76 who had the decency to look a bit shamed, “just had to follow the whispers.”  
  
“You know these people,” relief was clear on the couple’s face.  
  
“I do, except for him. Don’t know him,” you gesture at Zenyatta.  
  
“My name is Zenyatta,” his hand was out for you to shake.  
  
As you shook it, you pestered the other two men, “So why did you feel the urge to terrorize a neighbourhood just to find me?”  
  
The two of them bristled at the accusation and immediately started defending themselves.  
  
“Have either of you looked in a mirror? Anyway why you here?”  
  
“We’re here to recruit you into Overwatch,” Soldier 76 said, the couple leaving as soon as the mention of the now illegal organization left his mouth.  
  
You opened your mouth to say something witty in response, however crashing and panic from behind you interrupted you. Whipping around you pulled out your gun, grappling hook whirling as you prepped it. Hanzo notched an arrow to his bow and Soldier 76 hoisted his gun up. Noticing the dark uniforms you hissed.  
  
“Talon.”  
  
The grappling hook shot ahead, latching onto a shambling wall. Firing a few shots at the dark clad soldiers as you swung through the air. The shots made their mark as their heads exploded in a red mist, pulling a knife out you slammed it in the nearest man’s chest. As a sick gurgling noise came from his chest you ripped it out, blood soaked into his dark clothes. You heard a noise behind you as you turned around to shoot him the man screamed in agony as three Helix Rockets ripped his chest apart. A group of omnics ran in fear into the nearby mechanic shop.  
  
A group to the left fell to one of Hanzo’s scattershots, and you noticed a bundle of explosives at the ground of the mechanic shop. Quickly doing some mental math of the device it was meant to be more terrifying than damaging, however with how close it was to the building those omnics were certainly going to die. Looking down at your hodgepodge of a grappling hook you slapped together you figured you had one more use before it jammed up.  
  
You started to run to a group in the middle of the road as you neared them you aimed your grappling hook to the bomb. With a smile you pulled it towards yourself and threw yourself at the group as the counter ticked to zero.  
  
White flashed in your eyes as your whole body went numb, your head feeling like it was stuffed full of cotton balls. Your ears rang as you dazedly stared at flickers of dark figures. You tried to reach out for one but you couldn’t tell where your arms were. It kinda felt like you were being pinned down. Voices seems to filter to you, as if they were speaking through five feet of concrete.  
  
“….ill alive…. Mercy…. ry to stabilize… zo pick her up…..”  
  
You felt your body begin to rise and your eyes slowly closed. You slipped into unconsciousness as your body flickered between life and death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> then u died. I'm kidding ur not dead. obviously
> 
>  
> 
> would be a shitty story if u just died the first chapter


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a note, this is post Hanzo/Genji reconciliation, I'll probably make some things awkward for them but in general they're on speaking terms.

Slipping into consciousness your hand rose to swat at your ears, the buzzing starting to get at your nerves. The hand moved to your ear and moved past it, without any feeling. Your eyes whipped open and turned to your dominant arm, or lack of one. Sticking out of the hospital gown, ending halfway to the elbow, was a rounded stump. Your eyes traced the scars tracing itself into your chest, your other hand brushed the stiff sick green hospital gown to stare at the scars trickling down into your chest.  
  
Your head fell back onto the pillow and your hand fell into your lap. Taking a deep breath your eyes closed again.  
  
“Well, fuck.”

* * *

 

  
Waking up again you saw the figure of a woman, blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail. She peered from one machine to the other, you waved your hand up.  
  
“Hey.”  
  
She gave a small jump of fright and immediately was at your side. Her face moved as if she were a parent explaining the death of a loved pet to a child.  
  
“I know you amputated my arm,” you interrupted her medical explanation, “noticed it before.”  
  
She rubbed her neck awkwardly and sat in the chair next to the bed.  
  
“I should be able to attach a cybernetic prosthetic, once we give the injury enough time to heal to attach the latch surgically. From there it would be as simply as attaching it to the implant. However, I’ve been ordered that until confirmation….”  
  
“Of me joining Overwatch I can’t get the arm?” you laughed bitterly, this was the Overwatch you remembered, “so I can either be just another disabled homeless women or I can join Overwatch?”  
  
“It would just be too much money for...”  
  
“For someone who isn’t an asset.”  
  
Her eyes shifted to the floor in shame, her eyes tired.  
  
“You wouldn’t need to give an answer until your arm was ready for…”  
  
“I’ll do it.”  
  
Her eyes widened in shock and you repeated what you said.  
  
“I’ll join Overwatch, not like I had any other plans than just bumming around the world fighting criminals.”  
  
She gave a sympathetic smile before patting the bed.  
  
“Can you make sure the arm has a grappling hook in it?”

* * *

  
Days later Mercy, as she calls herself, finally released you from her care. Dressed in the last pair of clothes you owned, a ratty long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans that were more patches then denim, Hanzo was about to show you around the base. Looking in a mirror as Mercy fussed around, doing last minute checkups, you started tying the sleeve into a knot right underneath the stub. Grabbing the end with your teeth you tightened it and let it hang loosely from there. Running your hand through your explosion short hair you vaguely thought about how lucky you were to still have eyebrows. With difficulty you tried to one-handedly strap your bag around your thigh and hip.  
  
Hanzo touched you on the shoulder, making you jump.  
  
“It’s alright to ask for help,” his hand hovered over the strap, “may I?”  
  
After Hanzo latched the strap around your hip you were able to able to attach the other strap yourself.  
“Let’s get this tour started then.”  
  
Walking about the base, with Hanzo giving dry explanations about each room. Walking in a large open room, racks with various “safe” weapons lined up, in the middle of the room was an omnic or possibly cyborg wielding an odachi. As he moved through several movements Hanzo waved his hand around the room.  
  
“This is the sparring room,” Hanzo deadpanned, “where people will occasionally spar.”  
  
The cyborg/omnic heard Hanzo’s voice and sheathed his blade, waving a hand in greeting.  
  
“Ohayo,” he moved towards the pair of you, his Japanese accent modulated behind his visor.  
  
“This is my brother Genji,” cyborg, you thought to yourself.  
  
You moved your arm forward to shake his hand and something dark flittered across your face at the realization that you moved the wrong arm forwards. Swapping to the one that actually had a hand you shook Genji’s hand while pushing a fake smile onto your face.  
  
“Pleased to meet you, Genji.”  
  
“I’ve heard praises of your skill from both my master and my brother here,” his grip was firm before releasing it, “I hope to see them for myself.”  
  
“Master?”  
  
“Zenyatta,” the name sparked your memory to the omnic with the necklace of orbs.  
  
“I remember him.”  
  
“I’ll let him know that you’re out of the medbay,” Genji’s hand rested on his metallic hip, “he seemed a little worried, apparently you were in bad shape.”  
  
Hanzo’s face went a little too aloof, while his hand tightened. Genji’s head tilted slightly at his brother’s reaction.  
  
“Have you been to the town?” Genji quickly asked as Hanzo slowly relaxed, “there’s a few shops there.”  
  
“Knowing you, that’s you only pair of clothing you own,” Hanzo’s voice lacked the ribbing you’d expect.  
  
“You don’t know me,” your eyes dropped to the ground, picking up that there was something Hanzo didn’t want to acknowledge.  
  
“Unfortunately,” Hanzo deadpanned, “I do know you and have for years.”  
  
“You two have been friends for a while,” Genji noted.  
  
“We kept in contact after I interfered with a mark of his,” your hand rubbed through your hair, “or at least whenever I was on the grid long enough to communicate.”  
  
“If you two want to have enough time to look around at the stores you should probably leave now,” Genji paused for a second before adding, “I’m going to go find Zenyatta.”  
  
Genji left and Hanzo gestured for you to follow. The pair of you walked out of the base and through the winding road leading the Mediterranean town. The hot and humid air felt heavy on your skin as your muscles ached at the sudden surge in exercise. Taking a short break patted your chest with your hand.  
  
“Ah, geez,” you wheezed, “I’m getting old.”  
  
Hanzo chuckled and waited for you to get your breath back.  
  
“You’re probably one of the younger agents in Overwatch actually.”  
  
“Well, ain’t that just a pickled peach.”  
  
As your breathing leveled out you kept walking down the road. After reaching the town you grabbed your stash of cash that you had hidden in the seam of your bag. Taking a quick recount of how much you had you sighed.  
  
“We get paid for this right?”  
  
“I don’t want to know how but yes, we get paid.”  
  
Meandering through the shops you managed to get a few pairs of shirts, pants, and panties. After a little bit of debate you bought a cheap pair of pajama shorts with the remainder of your money. Just outside the store Hanzo ate a bowl of gelato. Making your way to him something flashed in the corner of your eye. You looked and noticed a beautiful fur lined leather jacket, the zipper was offset and diagonal across the chest. With tuffs of white fur lining the neck and wrists it gave a feminine charm to the tan jacket.  
  
Hanzo must have noticed your entranced face turn into sadness as you noticed the price tag. After a quick second of the thought of just returning everything you tossed that aside. Even if you did something that dumb it wouldn’t be enough to pay for it. Well you could just come back when you had money and pay for it, you rationed. You didn’t notice Hanzo dropping the remainder of his gelato in your hand.  
  
“I’m full, you can have the rest.”  
  
You stared at the spoon for a minute while your only hand was preoccupied with holding the bowl. Deciding to grab the spoon with your teeth you tucked it underneath your thumb and cringed as it quickly became sticky. Shoving your face into the cold dessert the sharp tang of lemon graced your tongue. Quickly finishing the gelato you lower the bowl to feel Hanzo drop the coat around your shoulders.  
  
“You looked ridiculous,” he wiped a dab of gelato off of your nose with a napkin.  
  
“Didn’t feel like using my telekinesis,” he grabbed the garbage out of your hand, “and you didn’t need to feel the urge to buy me this.”  
  
“Consider it payment.”  
  
“For what?”  
  
“Being my friend.”  
  
“Hanzo,” you flicked his forehead, “that’s called a gift.”  
  
He just rolled his eyes as you pulled the jacket over your arm (and your lack of one) then the two of you headed back to the base. Walking through the door you quickly noticed Zenyatta floating there, he raised an arm in greeting.  
  
“I’m glad to see you’re alright,” Zenyatta tilted his head while Hanzo quickly excused himself to get in a little bit of training.  
  
“Glad to still be able to fight,” with a nonchalant tone you adjusted your grip on the shopping bags.  
  
“I heard that you’re getting a cybernetic arm,” his gaze on you felt like it went straight through you, “are you at peace with it?”  
  
“Does it matter?” Zenyatta seemed a little taken back, “I need to keep fighting.”  
  
“Why do you look for fights,” you tensed at the question, “you almost seem fanatical.”  
  
Pushing your discomfort down you responded in a level tone, “Someone needs to fight for the little guy.”  
  
He simply looked at you sensing that you were leaving things unsaid and you quickly dismissed yourself. Making your way to the room you were given you quickly punched in the pin. Throwing the bags into the corner you threw yourself on the double sized bed. Knowing you were going to ache from the jeans squeezing your skin, against your better judgement you gave into your exhaustion and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that i have most (or all as I'll explain in a second) of the notes done I'm kinda at an impasse. There's a lot there, this isn't a slow burn by any means, but this story has been kinda split into two plot lines. I'm not sure if I'm going to have them as separate stories or just have a super large one. I'll keep thinking but i'm leaning on having two but that's where i am at the moment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably explain how I figure prosthetics work in Overwatch, theres an implant at where the limb will be attached. This implant reads your nervous system and transmits it to the limb, while the limb can be removed for repair or cleaning.

With one hand you quickly spread peanut butter across the slice of bread. If you ignored the few times you accidentally stabbed the bread it was a perfect PB&J sandwich. After giving an obligatory offer of help –which you had refused- Soldier 76 seemed content to just stare at you mangle a sandwich while he held a steaming cup of coffee.

“You know when you see those videos of people paint with their feet?” Soldier 76 gave a grunt in response, “I would be too lazy to do that.”  
“I think you would just adapt to the situation.”

“I’m too lazy,” you repeated, taking a bite out the sandwich, “I’m glad I’m getting another arm.”

You slobbered a hunk of sandwich on his jacket, and he just flicked it to the floor.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Fanks, dad two.”

As the bottom started to droop down your hand from lack of support you just tilted your head underneath it, looking like you were going to crawl onto the table. Soldier 76 covered his mask with his hand as if he was trying to contain a laugh. The door to the kitchen opened to show Zenyatta and Soldier 76 faked a cough.

“Well I would love to see the end of this train wreck but I gotta get going,” he ambled out, giving a lasting glance at the disaster that he seemed reluctant to leave.

Leaning your torso fully on the table a giant glob of jam fell on your nose. Ignoring the sticky mess you took another massive bite, whittling it down to half a sandwich.

“What are you doing?”

You swallowed the food in your mouth before answering.

“I’m eating.”

He hummed in response before grabbing a napkin, he dabbed at the blob on your nose with an inquisitive tip of the head. Taking another bite, you thought of what to say. Finally figuring it out you swallowed that as well.  
  
“Why are you here?” your eyes flickered to him, “no offence, but omnics don’t need food.”

“I’m not offended,” he watched as you shoved the last of the sandwich in your mouth and chewed, “I was looking for you.”

“Whaf phor,” you covered your mouth with your tightened fist, mentally kicking yourself for responding so quickly, “Sorry, what for?”

“I wanted to ask if you wanted to join me in meditation,” there was a flicker of something in his glowing blue lights that made your chest grow warm.

It was odd how expressive you found omnics, especially since everyone else felt that they were unfeeling, it was one of the reasons you vowed to help the defenceless. Though the thought of meditation was soon swirling in your head, the idea of sitting in a room and stewing in your thoughts was not appealing to you.  
  
“You’re now trying to find an excuse not to come.”

Your hand gripped the table and you lifted yourself up. Dusting breadcrumbs off of yourself you responded.  
  
“It’s nothing against you, I swear,” your stub moved as if you were to grab your other hand, “it just… doesn’t seem that appealing.”  
  
“Many feel that way until they try it,” Zenyatta gently pressed, as you looked blankly ahead.

You comm dinged then and you opened the message.  
  
“I gotta go see Mercy,” you intoned, “apparently it’s a consultation for my arm.”

“Another time then,” he floated away, looking nonplussed at being turned down.

Guilt swirled around you at rejecting the friendly omnic until you shoved it down with your other dark thoughts. You didn’t have time for this, you thought as you made your way to the doctor’s office, you had a doctor to drone at you.

* * *

 

Having gotten the usual details about every step of the surgery to graft the latch for your cybernetic arm. Don’t eat 24 hours before surgery, don’t shower for twelve hours after surgery, and don’t get in the way of EMP pulses. You stretched before making your way to Hanzo who was probably spending arrow after arrow shooting targets.

“What did Dr Ziegler want?” Zenyatta popped into view, scaring the shit out of you.

Your hand shot ahead and the papers you were holding scattered everywhere. A small scream echoed through the hallway as you leapt into the air. You placed your hand on your racing heart and Zenyatta gave an apologetic hum.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” his voice was laced with sadness.

“It’s fine,” You took a deep breath in, “I just wasn’t expecting that. I was there because apparently, my arms healed enough for surgery.”

“You never answered me,” his head tilted, “are you really okay with a cybernetic arm?”

“You never answered me,” you responded, tilting your head in turn, “does it matter if I’m okay with it. I need an arm to keep fighting, my want is irrelevant. Life isn’t about what we want, it’s about what we need to do.”

Hanzo and Genji watched the conversation from the end of the hall, having heard your scream and quickly ran to see what had caused the noise. Noticing the Zenyatta and you deep in conversation Genji relaxed, however, Hanzo’s eyebrow twitched in a rare show of emotions. Genji eyes flickered from his brother to you.

“He seems quite fond of her,” Hanzo said and Genji rolled his eyes underneath his mask, sensing what was bothering his brother.

They watched you pick up the papers and walk away, Zenyatta following behind you. The omnic still asking about your wellness.

“He did that,” Genji softly noted, “when we met.”  
  
Hanzo’s eyebrow cocked and Genji continued.  
  
“He decided he was going to help me and I refused to have anything with him, but he just kept talking to me. Eventually, I just let him help, thinking he would just get bored and leave. But he didn’t and it was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Watching Hanzo’s face flicker between his usual stoic mask and a second of deep misery Genji’s heart sank for a moment.  
  
“Someone needs to help her,” Hanzo finally softly said, “or at least get her to seek help herself.”

“You still can,” Genji prodded, unsure if he was pushing his brother too hard.

“I’m not that man for her,” Hanzo’s tone went harsh, “I never was, and I have accepted that.”

Hanzo’s shoulders tightened and he stalked away, Genji following after him.

* * *

 

The salt water licked at the legs of your pants, weighing it down from the knee down. You simply stared out at the sun dipping down the horizon while the warm sea breeze dragged your sleeve behind you. You felt a presence behind you and turned your head slightly to look who it is. Zenyatta simply floated a foot over the sea, the fur on his tassel was threatening to dip into the water. You simply looked at him and noticed that twinkle again, that warmth that threatened to open the Pandora’s box of emotions that you hid deep inside of you.

“Tell me your thoughts.”  
  
“I’ve heard,” lacking the strength to put a smile on your face, “that drowning is just like falling asleep.”

Whatever he had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t that. Hearing an omnic being stunned to silence is odd because they actually get louder. His processor fans kicked into overdrive and you found yourself too tired to care about how you were baring you soul. You looked at Zenyatta, not quite sadness marred your face. His hand reached out as if to grab your shoulder but it faltered before making contact with your skin.

“You can talk to me,” his voice was soft, it almost sounded like he was begging, “please, just talk to me if you feel like that.”

Holding your hand to your waist you looked awkwardly away, gripping at the fabric you answered.  
“Ok, maybe I’ll even try that meditation thing.”

His shoulders relaxed and that twinkle reappeared, “We can start tomorrow morning, around seven. In that room with sliding doors that open to the garden.”

You got a burst of energy, enough to plaster a smile on your face and aim a finger-gun at him.  
“I’ll see you then.”

He watched as you climbed the cliff back up to the base, hearing you grumble about your soaked pants. His fingers drummed a nondescript beat as he looked forward to helping you find peace. He was grateful that Genji was busy tomorrow morning as it was easier to teach one on one.

* * *

 

A few weeks had passed, you coming to meditation almost every day. Sometimes Genji joined as well, and Zenyatta was pleased to see the two of you get along. Apparently, the two of you became acquaintances through Hanzo. However yesterday you hadn’t shown up, as you were in surgery for the latch to your arm, and Zenyatta meditated alone. He wondered if he was going to alone today as well, having gotten used to your presence he felt the lack of your company keenly.

As he was settling in for another solitary meditation session the door opened behind him. He tilted his face around to look at whoever was interrupting him and his chest grew warm when he noticed you there.  
“Look at what I got now,” You gestured with your dominant arm, the stub ending with a piece of metal covered in plugins.

Strips of metal crawled from the latch up to your shoulder screwed in, fastening it and connecting the latch to your nerves. Lights flickered from it that he recognised as a basic monitoring program, letting you know if there were any problems with the implant.

“I was trying to get here earlier but Mercy wanted to run just one more test,” you rubbed the back of your head, “you know how she can be.”

“I do indeed,” he hummed, his posture turning serious you slowly walked towards him.

“What’s wrong?” it scared him sometimes how easily you could read him, not having met another human that could pick up emotions from Omnics that easily.

“You don’t need to do this,” your head tilted in confusion at Zenyatta’s statement, “you could just leave, find somewhere to live. Just be at peace.”

Your eyes squinted and some unrecognisable feeling flittered through you at the pure emotion in his voice. Your hand raised to gently rest on his thigh, stopping just inches away. Something stopped you from making contact, just knowing that if you did touch him everything would change. Maybe that’s why he won’t touch me either, you thought mind flashing to the easy way he would comfort others with a thoughtful caress but his hands refused to lay on your skin.

“I can’t,” you finally said, “and I can’t explain why I can’t either. I’m sorry but please just leave it at that.”  
  
He simply stared forward with you and minutes passed by before he hesitantly talked.  
  
“You said your arm has a grappling hook implemented in the wrist.”  
  
Your face brightened up with a smile that left him aching for more as you began to rant about your arm. Your ring and middle finger pressed into the palm as the remaining fingers stuck out, you aimed it forward with a pew pew noise at the tree in your view. He was content to just watch you talk, happy just to have met you.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to start by saying that I am blown away at the positive reception this story has gotten, I was expecting next to no response to this at all but at every chapter there have been praises for this. So thank you.  
> Also I have started a overwatch reader imagine tumblr which is https://overwatch-reader-imagines.tumblr.com/ so if any of you have any requests for me send them there. I am open to pretty much anything but there is a rule page elaborating things.  
> Once again thank you, it's been a pleasure and I hope I can keep going with each chapter meeting or even exceeding your expectations.

It was odd, seeing metal where you were accustomed to nothing. Every so often you’d find yourself pressing down on your cybernetic arm a little too hard, almost as if you expected to pass right through it. Something dark brewed inside of you sometimes when you thought of the explosion that took your arm. Zenyatta seemed to have a sixth sense for when that feeling emerged, appearing with a small story about his experiences with the Iris or a prank he played on his Shambali brothers and sisters. Having him amusedly relay experiences to you seemed to pull you out of the thoughts of the fire and shrapnel and ground you to the present.  
  
Standing in a training course you used the grappling hook to quickly move around, not used to the power of a properly made grappling hook. Your old one was slapped together in the last week you had a house for and was a jammed mess most of the time. Most of the time you were pulling the frayed rope out of the gears and replacing the band. Now the rope was slick and neatly rolled back into your arm, and even had commands to shoot and retract the rope at different speeds while the old one was a simple shoot and go design. It had taken a week to get used to the personality of this new hook and the new shotgun you were gifted with but at the end you were quickly massacring the self-repairing training bots.  
  
Aiming your arm at the wall behind the closest training bot you latched the hook into it, doing a quick debate on whether to use your sidearm or shotgun. Quickly hurtling yourself forward you prepared to aim the shotgun right at the bot’s head. Landing in front of him the hook loosened itself from the wall and shot back into the arm. With the shotgun right in the bot’s face your finger on the trigger tightened and the bot’s head exploded from an arrow.  
  
Quickly switching it to safety you tucked it into your holster on your back, turning around you raised your arms at the Japanese archer standing at the other side of the room. He gestured for you to join him and you did.  
  
“We have a mission,” you raised your eyebrow on how abrupt this was, “follow me.”  
  
You followed the archer through the winding hallways and arrived at the debriefing room. Quickly after entering Athena’s voice reverberated through the room.  
  
“At 20:00 tomorrow the U.N.’s Dignitary Gala will host the world’s leaders and highly ranked diplomats, including German Chancellor Rainer Kogler. Chancellor Kogler is the leading push for equal rights for omnics among the G8 and the U.N. We’ve received information that an assassination attempt will be made on his life at the Gala. Due to your experience in preventing assassinations this mission has been chosen as your initiation, as the one who recommended you to Overwatch, Hanzo will be accompanying you. His talents also are apt for this mission as well.”  
  
You leaned on your hip, sensing a ‘but’ in there.  
  
“However,” _damn close_ , “as a vigilante group Overwatch isn’t allowed anywhere near the Gala, if caught by the U.N.’s security you would be arrested and tried as a clear violation of the Petras act.”  
  
“If we’re successful,” Hanzo met your eyes, “it would go a long way in proving the legitimacy of the recalled Overwatch.”  
  
“And we’d save an innocent civilian,” you pointed the main thing on your mind.  
  
While it made sense for the others to think about aftermath of expending resources you preferred to think of things more simply. Save innocents and kill any irredeemable criminals. It wasn’t like you got a lot of sleep anyway but at least you weren’t plagued with thoughts of guilt over the lives you’ve taken.  
  
“Well, let’s get this party started,” you cracked your fingers, metal fingers refusing to make the sound.

* * *

  
Tucking magazines and shells into your bag, a strip of fabric quickly sewn to separate the two, you took mental count of your ammunition. Twenty-four shells and four magazines, which had eight bullets in each, leaving you with thirty-two for your sidearm. While this was probably more than enough for the mission you knew how easy it was to run out of ammo.  
  
“Think you got enough kid?” Soldier 76 leaned in the doorway, you could feel the cocky smile from underneath the mask.  
  
“Is this the part where you give a speech about how they grow up so fast,” your ribbing lacked any real harshness.  
  
“You’re probably young enough to be my kid,” he pushed himself up, “though hopefully a kid of mine wouldn’t have given so much lip.”  
  
“Thank God you didn’t reproduce,” teasing smile on your face, “one Soldier 76 is enough, the world couldn’t handle two.”  
  
He laughed, stress melting away from his face, covering his mask with his hand as if his mouth was visible.  
  
“You’re probably not the only one to think that.”  
  
His eyebrows twitched together and he awkwardly scratched at his visor covered cheek.  
  
“Do you even have any military training?”  
  
“No,” you shuffled uncomfortably before raising an eyebrow, “Do you?”  
  
Now was his time to shuffle around uncomfortably, his face pointedly facing away from you.  
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I should probably let you go.”  
  
Giving a mock salute, metal arm glinting in the artificial light before light skipping around him.  
  
“Be careful out there kid.”  
  
“When am I not?”  
  
“When we had to carry you through San Franscico as you bled out.”  
  
Your nose scrunched before waving off his concern, “Semantics.”  
  
Quickly leaving the old soldier behind you left for the dropship. Meeting up with Hanzo outside the ship, thumbing through his arrows, you quickly walked in the dropship. Shouldering his quiver Hanzo followed suit and the dropships doors closed. Snuggling into the fur lining the neck of your jacket you took a nap waiting for Athena to announce your arrival.

* * *

  
Unable to enter the Gala the two of you had to prowl across rooftops of the vacated buildings, avoiding the security guards that were in force. Between the two of you, possible sniper points were picked by their ability to see into the party and distance from the patrol routes. Bunkering down out of sight the two of you waited for the assassin to appear. As the hours dripped by the two of you got tenser, easily avoiding the unsubtle guards.  
  
“Typical,” Hanzo’s ear was pressed to the floor, “a security force that any skilled assassin could easily outwit.”  
  
Keeping an eye out the window for the mark to enter into sight you just grunted in response. Seeing something quickly flash in the corner of your eye you whispered your partner’s name.  
  
“I hear it, too soft of a gait to be a security guard. Heading to just south of us at point two.”  
  
“Mark is still out of sight,” you quickly checked your weapons, your body shaking with anticipation.  
  
Standing up he gestured for you to follow and both of you left the room. Moving quickly he opened the window at the end of the hall that faced the hotel next door. He climbed out and leapt to the wall of the other building and quickly scurried up the wall onto the roof. You followed, latching your grabbling hook to the edge of the building, immediately slinking behind a ventilation shaft as soon as you were up. Watching the guard aimlessly walk back and forth, clearly bored, the two of you slithered around him easily.  
  
The two of you split up, each intending to ambush from the two entries and quickly ambush him, you grabbed your pistol. Pressing your face into door that joined the room the assassin was in and the next together you heard shuffling and the distinguishable noise of a gun being cocked. Hearing Hanzo giving the go ahead over your comm you shoved opened the door the assassin left stupidly unlocked.  
  
The assassin instinctively swung around and you aimed a kick the thigh. As Hanzo loosed the shaft of the arrow nocked in his bow your foot connected with metal. In shock you barely had enough time to dodge the arrow that ricocheted off the metallic body of the killer. You had just recognized him as being omnic by the glowing orbs in a triangle on his forehead before he threw you out the window. Glass shattered around you and you barely recognized the panicked screams from below as you catapulted through the air. Pieces of Hanzo’s scattershot flew out the window and you tried to aim your arm at the window. Launching it at a rough estimate your body swung from the moment to smash you into the building.  
  
Knocking the air out of your lungs at the force you hit the building you barely noticed the harsh grip you still had on your sidearm. Tears prickled at the side of your eyes as you gasped for air, you heard Hanzo call your name in your ear.  
  
“I’m… alright,” you choked out, about to grapple up the building.  
  
“The targets left, he’ll probably try a direct approach now. I’ll try to get down there but the guards are incoming, you probably have a better chance.”  
  
Noticing the glint shining off of an omnic running into the panicked crowd you lowered yourself quickly. You hissed as your ribs jolted with your feet hitting the ground, pain shooting up your body. People quickly ran in fear at the sight of you, you kept an eye on the assassin. Your metal hand gripped your probably broken ribs as panic flushed through you at how close he was to his target.  
  
“I see him,” you hissed, “Going to try something a bit risky.”  
  
Hanzo murmured something in Japanese, it could have either been a prayer or a curse for your stupidity. Noticing him pull out a silenced pistol you lifted your grappling hook and took aim right at the omnics back.  
“Hey!” you shouted and the omnic turned around and you shot the hook at him.  
  
It latched in the centre of his chest and you quickly recalled the rope, the two of you were lifted off of your feet and tumbled together in the middle. Quickly regaining your senses you lifted the gun to shoot him squarely in the middle of his sensors. Tightening your grip on the trigger he instinctively pulled back, bullet lodging itself in the high ceiling. His pistol went off, hitting you in the shoulder and you pulled your own trigger at the impact, landing a shot at his upper arm. The arm, still gripping the arm, fell to the ground uselessly and he landed a shot on your ribs. Your mind went blank at the pain and he ripped the hook from his chest. Blood gurgled out of your mouth as you watched him run away.  
  
You could barely hear Hanzo sharply telling you to get away, however you could barely move. One of the guards went to grab you but was stopped but was stopped by one of the dignitaries. The former Canadian prime minister mouthed for you to run and you gathered enough strength to get your legs to cooperate. You kept running until Hanzo stopped you, several blocks away, bleeding from his shoulder. Slipping his arm around your waist he walked the two of you to the evac zone. Crawling into the dropship he ripped apart the med kit, ignoring Athena scolding him for vandalizing the dropship, he pulled out a biotic field generator.  
  
After nudging your ribs back into their proper place, ignoring your pained screams, he activated the generator. Holding back the desire to cough, that you knew would only reopen the wounds, a painful warmth spread across your chest as the injuries stitched themselves together. After the warmth had lessened to a warm glow you started coughing, blood pouring down your chin and soaking your shirt. Hanzo handed you a towel and you held it to your mouth it quickly soaking red. When the coughs only brought up small splatters you lowered the towel.  
  
Taking a deep breath and feeling only a slight twinge you threw the towel to the ground.  
  
“Well that’s never going to be clean again.”  
  
Running his hand through his hair Hanzo tried to look serious but his shoulders still shook with a chuckle.  
  
Now that the medical crisis was over you quickly ran your mind through the mission. Your hands started to shake and your chest tightened itself at the realization that the target got away. Shame nagged at your mind as you ran through the scene over and over again. If only you had landed that first headshot, a murderer wouldn’t be roaming the streets free.  
  
Landing at Gibraltar, being escorted to the med bay, Mercy giving you a hesitant clean bill of health – as long as you were kept off of the roster for a while – and Winston praising the pair of you, even saying that they were already getting calls from U.N. members that they would support repealing the Petras act went by in a blur. Your chest ached with irritation at their praises, you were a **_failure_**. As soon as you were dismissed you went to your room, abruptly cutting off Zenyatta’s praises. You quickly covered it with an excuse of being tired but you weren’t sure you fooled the monk’s keen eyes.  
  
Entering the room you threw your jacket into the corner in a fit of rage. Ripping off the rest of your clothes you shoved your fist into your mouth and screamed. Barely feeling your teeth breaking the skin your body collapsed with exhaustion. With barely enough energy to throw pajamas on you launched yourself onto the bed and sobbed.  
  
_Maybe being selfish would have been better_ , was the last thought that rang in your head as you fell asleep on the comforter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this might seem like we're getting near to the end but the reason for that is because we're actually getting close to my original ending for this. Which I wrote the notes for and then was like I wanna keep writing this. I think I will however separate it into another story after that because it does work thematically to do it that way and I already thought of another reference to name it.  
> Don't worry we're not even halfway through this yet.

Zenyatta could describe your last mission from heart, he felt like he had every negative emotion possible in the span of the three minutes stopping the assassination took. Dread as your body launched out of the window, heart wrenching torment at the sick crunch your body made when you hit the building, heartache at your pained expression when the omnic assassin punched your rib, and distress at the way you just stood there – accepting your fate – as blood poured down your chin.  
  
Every time he saw the news, recounting the event over and over again, he felt the same cycle of emotions just as strongly as the first time. Genji, sensing his disquiet, suggested talking to you about his feelings and he had simply murmured a ‘maybe’ in return. Maybe it would have quieted his soul if he could have seen you but since you returned from the mission you had locked yourself in your room, refusing to leave for even food.  
  
Whenever on the odd point where they weren’t running a play by play on your mission he saw your face in his mind, showing anguish for a quick second before you slapped a tired expression on. When you excused yourself, citing exhaustion as an excuse for cutting him off, he felt conflict in his soul for the first time in years.  
  
Part of him wanted to follow you, protect you, even lo…  
  
Another part of him was scared, that he’d see another part of you that sure made him think that he was going to lose you to yourself.  
  
You were quite skilled in hiding your emotions, clearly having years of practice, to the point that even he mostly believed your lies. It was when your mask cracked and he saw the darkness that had all but consumed your soul that he wanted to drag you away from everything.  
  
From Overwatch and from the open wounds in your soul that you refused to let heal.  
  
If only to settle the conflict of his own emotions he found himself outside your door, holding a pack of military rations he scavenged from the kitchen. His hand hesitated at the doorknob, shining green to signify it was unlocked, and he could almost hear Genji’s familiar teasing of how deep he was.  
  
Gathering his nerves he pressed the button to open the door, rationing that the door was unlocked and if you didn’t want to be bothered you would have locked it. The door swung open with the longest seconds of his life and he was immediately struck by how dark your room was. Clothes were scattered across the room that he recognized as the clothes you wore to the Gala, and your form was curled up underneath the blanket. He knocked on the wall as the door closed behind him. Your head slowly turned to look at him and his heart broke at your disheveled state. Simply staring at him he placed the rations on your bedside table.  
  
“I brought you food,” he noticed something lying against the wall and realized it was the bathroom mirror, the front leaning against the wall so you couldn’t see the reflective surface.  
  
His hands itched with the need to tidy your room, something Genji and his fellow monks dubbed as the ‘Mother Hen mode’. You just stared as he gave into his instinct and began picking up your clothes, dropping them in the hamper. With each thing he put away anger and guilt began to well inside of you. Something inside of you was still alive and it screamed for him not to see you this way.  
  
It was when he opened the blinds, letting sun into the room so he could properly see what a monster you were, that the rage just burst out of you.  
  
“Why the hell do you care?!” you screamed, unsure who you were angry at, “Why are you even here?!”  
  
His body froze, sunlight reflecting beautifully off of his body, and shame festered inside of you, he just wanted to open your window and you just yelled at him. Your eyes flickered to your knife as something burned inside of you.  
  
“Because I love you,” your body gave a start, not expecting that answer.  
  
Nameless emotions just swirled inside of you as Zenyatta floated to the edge of the bed. His hands began to move to you but then stopped as if he realized what he was doing.  
  
“I cannot tell you when,” his voice was soft, that twinkle was in his eye again, “I certainly didn’t plan to, but I do. I love you.”  
  
You mouth opened, words stuttering as you didn’t know how to respond.  
  
“You don’t need to tell me anything right now,” his arm raised, “or even at all. I just thought you should know.”  
  
His hands rested in his lap, his body seeming lighter at confessing. For the first time in years you felt like telling someone on what set you down this path.  
  
“Before all of this,” you gestured widely, “I had a completely normal life. I had a home, a job, a family. I was happy.”  
  
His head tilted, sensing that you were finally letting a bit of that mask down.  
  
“And then, one morning, for no reason,” your shoulders shrugged, “I just woke up just wishing I was dead.”  
  
Closing your eyes as Zenyatta made a pained noise, not wanting to see his face.  
  
“I made plans, wrote a note and everything. Then while watching the news I realized how selfish I was. This world was falling apart and all I was thinking about killing myself. I sold everything I owned, walked away from a nice paying job and became a vigilante.”  
  
You opened your eyes and Zenyatta was thunderstruck by how beautiful you looked, a sad smile outlined by the light pouring from the window.  
  
“Dying saving someone just seemed less selfish.”  
  
His hand grabbed a fistful of blanket, his processor fans whirling with the influx of information. He thought of how the two of you met, that day you lost your arm, and a question swirled to the front of his mind. Something that had been bugging him for a while.  
  
“Is that why you smiled?”  
  
You gave a hum, confusion painted on your face.  
  
“When you grappled the bomb, is that why you smiled?”  
  
You watched as feelings swirled inside of him as he debated whether to reveal this or not.  
  
“Your smile was so natural, so you. I haven’t seen it since,” he looked away, this felt private for some reason, “Did you smile because you thought you were going to die.”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“It was beautiful,” Zenyatta murmured, love clearly painting his words, “Too beautiful to be amidst such darkness. I would like to see it again, I would like to see you be happy.”  
  
After a few moments of silence, the two of you suddenly tired, that he patted on the bed turning to leave.  
  
“I should let you be,” his voice was strained with something, “I have bothered you enough.”  
  
A few more minutes after he left you just sat there just staring at the wall until you forced yourself out of the bed. Quickly choking down the food he brought as your stomach rumbled, realizing how hungry you were, you quickly dressed yourself with your aching hand. After a quick glance you confirmed that the wound from biting your fist became infected. Hissing in pain as you disinfected and wrapped it.  
  
Just wanting to be away from everything you ran from the watchpoint and made your way down to the beach. Watching the waves lap against the water you just stood there, staring at the water, suddenly scared of taking a step into the sea.  
  
You heard boots crunching on the sand and as the person approached you, you just stared out at the sea. Coming into your peripheral vision Hanzo gave a slight wave.  
  
“D.va saw you leave,” he stopped next to you and you gave a grunt in response.  
  
Standing next to you he kept silent, sensing that you were grappling with your words. Picking at the bandage on your hand you just spewed what was on your mind.  
  
“Zenyatta visited me, I yelled at him and he told me he loved me.  
  
“I heard Zenyatta, yelled, and love me,” Hanzo raised his arms, “Could you please repeat that?”  
  
You took a deep breath, centering yourself in the present as Zenyatta instructed in that first meditation session so long ago. Slowly repeating what happened in your room almost ten minutes ago Hanzo simply looked at you.  
  
“Do you love him?”  
  
Hanzo had immediately asked the question that plagued you since Zenyatta’s confession.  
  
“I don’t know,” your eyes closed, suddenly terrified, “I don’t even know if I can still love.”  
  
There was a moment of silence and then Hanzo quietly asked.  
  
“Does he make you happy?”  
  
“Yes,” your answer was immediate, not even having to think about it.  
  
As memories of the omnic flickered through your body several emotions you associated with him rose inside of you.  
  
“He makes me feel like I’m worth something, something more that I think I am,” your chest grew warm at finally admitting to yourself what he was to you.  
  
“Ten years from now, when this is all over and we go our separate ways,” something laced his voice, it almost sounded like sadness, “do you see yourself going with him?”  
  
Anguish welled through you at being separated from Zenyatta, you felt very small when you finally responded.  
  
“I hope so.”  
  
You opened your eyes to look at Hanzo, suddenly struck by the tenderness in his eyes as he looked at you. His hand reached out as if to brush aside a stray hair but stopped himself.  
  
“That sounds like love.”  
  
“Do you mind?” you asked, your chest was tight at the thought of losing your friend.  
  
“You knew of my feelings?”  
  
“Oh Hanzo,” your eyebrows pinched together, “you weren’t that subtle.”  
  
He thumbed the string of his bow that cross his broad chest before responding.  
  
“I just want you to be happy,” he cupped your face, thumb caressing your cheek in his one moment of weakness, “you have a beautiful smile.”  
  
Without a single thought you threw your arms around his shoulders, pulling him close. He froze for a moment then melted into the hug. His arms pulled you close like he was going to inhale your essence. He left his grip loose enough to let you know what you could end this hug whenever you wanted.  
  
“I’m sorry, Hanzo,” your nose was pressed into his shoulder, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be what you wanted.”  
  
“I’m not,” he gave a small chuckle and you started pulling away from his embrace, “I would have been a terrible boyfriend.”  
  
You rubbed your nose, your thoughts were at peace for the first time since the mission. Just as you were about to head up to the watchpoint loud angry klaxons pierced through the air. Your body froze as you were overwhelmed with fear, Zenyatta’s face shining clearly through your mind. Hanzo ran to the cliff and began scrambling up as you aimed your grappling hook at the top. Soaring through the air Hanzo popped over the edge at the same time you did and the two of you ran to the base.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has officially gone past 10,000 words. The 10,000 word in this story is actually 'head'.

Genji’s blade soared through the air and cut through several Talon agents, their bodies collapsed as the life drained out of them. Hearing another person behind him he whipped around to see a Talon agent gurgling around the arrow in his throat. Sheathing his blade he turned around to look at his brother. His head moving slightly when he noticed you standing there as well.  
  
“You’re here,” his body tensed with concern before whipping his head around, “Zenyatta…”  
  
“Where is he?” your voice pitched up as a hand gripped around your throat making it hard to talk.  
  
“He went to the dorm to find you, he was afraid you’d be hurt,” he pointed, to the general direction of your room, “but when he won’t find you in your room…”  
  
“I’m going to go find him,” you started heading there but was cut off by a new group of Talon agents.  
  
Hearing an arrow whip past your head and it shot into the chest of the nearest intruder, two blue ethereal dragons tearing the rest of the group apart. Hanzo gave a hiss as steam came off of his arm before nocking an arrow to his bow and shooting a scatter arrow to kill the two that managed to evade his spirit dragons. Giving a thankful murmur to Hanzo at the cleared way you started to leave stopping when Genji called out.  
  
“Wait!”  
  
Certain he was going to scold you for the way you treated his master you stopped.  
  
“What did he say to you, he refused to tell me but he seemed so sad,” Hanzo shuffled awkwardly and you gave a cough.  
  
“I’ll fill you in later but basically I’m an emotionally stunted cactus. I can fix it but I need to get to Zenyatta.”  
  
You began running, panic filling your veins, barely hearing Genji wish you luck behind you. Pulling out your side arm you quickly killed anyone in your way. Discarding the empty magazine you reached into your bag, thankful that you didn’t empty it after your mission, and pulled out a full magazine of ammo. Quickly reloading you strained your ears, hoping to hear anything, and machine gun fire met your ears. You began walking towards the noise, maybe it was another Overwatch agent who would know where Zenyatta is.  
  
Nearing the machine gun shooter you heard the familiar chime of the orbs that Zenyatta used as a weapon. Heart suddenly latching itself in your throat you ran towards the sound. Sparks flickered from damaged wiring on his right arm, your heart stuttered as machine fire went off by his head. A purple orb floated over the purple skinned woman, a French accent floating out as she taunted Zenyatta.  
  
“Ah, would you look at the Shambali fly,” cruelty flowed from her impassive face, “Do not be sad, the spider will let you see your brother again.”  
  
His body froze, anger emanating from his being, before hurling an orb which shattered next to her face. She gently leaned to the side and raised her gun to point directly at Zenyatta.  
  
“Au revoir,” your chest wringed itself and you just screamed.  
  
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”  
  
She whipped around to look at you and you found yourself flying towards her as you shot the grappling hook at the wall behind her. Your fist connected with her face and with a sick crunch whipped back. Using the moment that you had until she reoriented herself you whipped out your gun.  
  
Rolling to the side to dodge her machine gun fire you fired three shots at her lodging into the wall behind her. Cursing yourself for wasting ammo, you kept a quick tally of how much you had left. Machine gun went off by your head and you slammed down the instinct to flinch.  
  
She was playing with you, purposely missing the shots just barely. Each shot was meant to wear down your will and you refused to play her game. Flipping around, back sliding across the floor, you aimed at her head hoping to end this soon. Firing another two shots at her, one grazing the helmet on her head and the other missing entirely.  
  
She snarled and the gun shifted, turning into a sniper rifle. Smoke rising from one of the panes of her visor she quickly reloaded. Your finger twitched and you wasted a bullet that flew past her. She pulled the sniper rifle to her eye and you pulled the trigger again aiming right at her. When nothing came out she chuckled, and you frantically kept pulling the trigger.  
  
_It must be jammed_ , you thought staring up the barrel.  
  
An orb exploded on her thigh, momentarily stunning her as her leg gave out for a second, and you threw away the gun.  
  
“I am still here and you will not harm her.”  
  
She snarled at Zenyatta and rage built up inside of you again. Pulling out the shotgun your hand whipped out to launch you into position. Latching onto the wall you aimed your gun at her main arm. Firing a shot as her gun was pointed directly at your chest. As the slugs buried themselves into her flesh, blood welling from the wound, her arm twitched to the side firing directly into your prosthetic arm. She gave a cry and fell back before crawling on her hands and knees. Aiming her own grappling hook away from the pair of you she flung herself away.  
  
You stood there panting as Zenyatta rushed forward, your injured arm was numb up to halfway to the shoulder. Turning around and waddling toward the omnic, concern painting your face.  
  
“Are you alright?” his voice fluttered.  
  
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” you gave a chuckle and his uninjured arm reached forwards to grasp the smouldering ruin that was your arm.  
  
Your own arm raced forward to hold his injured arm. The pair of you tenderly gripped the other’s injured arm before you swallowed deeply. His thumb gently rubbed above the implant and you were unable to actually feel it.  
  
“I love you too.”  
  
His thumb stopped and his whole body froze, your voice raised slightly.  
  
“I love you too.”  
  
Your hand gently cupped his face and a smile spread across your own face.  
  
“I love you too!”  
  
His arm slipped around your waist and you leaned your forehead against his. Saying that phrase over and over again the smile spread wider with each repetition. The two of you sat there just glowing with love, only breaking apart when Athena chimed that the Talon assault was over. Looking sheepish you rubbed the back of your neck and he looked at you with that tender gaze, hand resting on your hip.  
  
“How is your arm?” he gently caressed the flesh under his hand.  
  
“It’s numb from halfway to the shoulder from my implant.” You were grateful for the lack of pain, ignoring the deeper indication.  
  
“It must have fried the sensors in the arm.”  
  
His head tilted to the side and he just stared at you, you could tell he was just drinking in your face.  
  
“When I couldn’t find you,” his voice stuttered, distress painting every word, “I thought you were…”  
  
He stopped, unable to finish, but he didn’t need to. You knew the heart wrenching fear too well from watching him nearly getting executed in front of you. Instead of responding right away you moved the arm on your hip to your neck, so he could feel the fluttering of your heartbeat right underneath his hand. His body stilled as awe emanated from his entire being, his fingers pressed a little harder into the artery.  
  
“I’m right here,” you leaned into the touch, eyes fluttering closed.  
  
“You are,” he pressed his forehead into yours again and gave a slight giggle.  
  
“You’re right here and you love me back.”  
  
You pressed a kiss to the side of his faceplate before you got up, holding his hand as support.  
  
“We should probably give the bad news to Dr. Zeigler,” you pointed at your smoking husk of an arm.  
  
He held his good arm out and you looped your arm through his. The two of you made your way to the Doctor and you prepared yourself for the scolding you were going to get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and you had just gotten that arm.  
> This ones a bit short but the notes for the next worked as their own chapter besides I wanted to get this out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder there is going to be a sequel, so don't panic that it says complete.

Mercy gave a tut of disapproval while she tried to wrench the arm out of the socket, Zenyatta holding you back around your waist from flying out of the bed. Finally prying it out with a spray of metal and sparks, Mercy gave a few pants and threw the arm to the ground.  
  
“Torbjorn is going to be so upset when he sees this,” she sighed, running a scanner over the implant.  
  
“Torbjorn can shove his turret up his ass,” you snapped, getting annoyed with her fretting, “I’ll do it myself if he comes to complain to me.”  
  
Zenyatta made a noise, almost like he was holding back a laugh, before he tutted out a scolding. A smirk crossed your face at the lack of heart behind it, omnics and humans would immediately find understanding the day Torbjorn wasn’t rude to Zenyatta.  
  
“I know he can be,” she paused, reading over the diagnostic, “a little abrasive.”  
  
“That’s just what you call a useful asshole.”  
  
Her face twitched painfully as she held back a laugh of her own and she grabbed an instrument. Prodding it into your arm pain shot up from the implant. Giving a yelp and Angela smiled apologetically at the noise.  
  
“It crashed from the influx of information,” she explained as you rubbed the flesh, feeling back in your arm, “the pain was it just clearing its cache.”  
  
“Am I free to go?” you asked, wanting to just collapse on your bed and sleep for thirty hours.  
  
“Just drop by tomorrow so I check if it started swelling,” she waved you out, already halfway to the next patient, “I’ll let Torbjorn know that he’s got to make another arm.”  
  
Zenyatta held out his hand and you used it to raise yourself up. Still holding his hand the two of you made your way to your room, Zenyatta humming good naturedly beside you. As you punched in the combination Zenyatta finally said.  
  
“Do you mind if I come in?” he tilted his head and you smiled at how tentative he was being.  
  
“Of course,” you gestured in, it felt like an eternity since he had last been in here.  
  
“We should probably talk about how this is going to work,” he was fretting, you could see it in his twitching hands, “Especially when we leave Overwatch.”  
  
“What do you want to do?” you sat on your bed, looking at Zenyatta.  
  
“There is still pain between omnics and humans,” Zenyatta looked ashamed at admitting it, “I would hope to still mend those scars.”  
  
“A wandering guru isn’t a particularly healthy career for someone who needs rest and food,” you nodded, realizing what he was getting at.  
  
“You’ve seen enough pain,” Zenyatta looked at you, sadness twinkling behind those lights, “I would want you to be happy than to be with me.”  
  
“I understand,” you continued to watch him, “It’s something that’s bigger than us.”  
  
“I want to be with you,” he held your hand, cradling it so gently between both of his hands, “It would be selfish to sacrifice so much for that.”  
  
“Just because we’re apart doesn’t mean that we can’t be together,” you murmured, “Long distance relationships can work, it would be a struggle but I’m willing to fight for this.”  
  
“I would try anything,” you smiled at him before pressing a kiss to his cheeks.  
  
You lay back on the bed, patting the bed next to you. He stretched himself next to you and you curled up against him. He tenderly stroked your arm, nuzzling his faceplate into your forehead.  
  
“I’ve been so blessed to have met you,” he watched as your eyes fluttered shut.  
  
“I’d say the opposite honestly,” that darkness crossed against your face, “I wouldn’t say that it’s a blessing to have met me.”  
  
“Love is the greatest blessing,” he rubbed your cheek with his thumb and you leaned into his touch, “the Iris has brought us together just to receive that blessing.”  
  
“Charmer,” you giggled, “No wonder why I fell for you.”  
  
He gave a pleased noise at your laugh and wrapped his arms around you. Peace settled across his body as there was a sense of rightness at the way you felt in his grip. Your hands gripped at his chest plate and your soft voice rang out.  
  
“Stay,” you quickly added, “for tonight. I don’t wanna be alone, so please stay.”  
  
“As long as you’ll have me,” he rested his hand on the side of your head.  
  
“I wonder what my family is doing,” Your face scrunched in sadness, “It’s been years since the last time I’ve seen them.”  
  
“We could look them up,” he rubbed at the creases the sadness was creating, “Overwatch owes you more than that.”  
  
“Yeah, it’s weird. I haven’t thought about them until right now,” you smiled and Zenyatta patted your shoulder.  
  
“I should probably get ready for bed,” you hesitantly crawled out of his arms, “Gotta take a shower, it probably should only be about ten to fifteen minutes.”  
  
Picking up pajamas you gave a small wave as you went into the bathroom, Zenyatta giving a wave back. His comm beeped the second you closed the door and he opened the flashing message. It was Genji, frantically asking if he was still alright. Apparently he had seen him, or had been told about, entering the med bay. Zenyatta slowly typed that he was in near factory condition and was simply accompanying you, passing over the damage on his arm that he patched up while watching for Mercy to see you.  
  
The comm dinged again and he opened the new message. He twiddled his thumbs thinking how to respond to Genji pressing him again on what had been bothering him.  
  
_He calls me a mother hen_ , Zenyatta began typing that the two of you talked about it. He debated whether informing Genji about your new romantic relationship but ultimately decided to ask for your opinion as well.  
  
Steamed rolled into the room as the door opened, water droplets rolling down your legs and hair tousled up. You gave a running start and landed on the bed, bouncing slightly. Zenyatta gave a giggle at your antics and gently pulled the blankets out from underneath you. Resting them over you he gently tucked them in and you gave a beaming smile.  
  
He watched you resettle yourself and asked, “Do you mind if I tell Genji about us?”  
  
You shook your head as he floated over to the light switch. Flicking it off you stretched your arm out for him.  
  
“Hold my hand,” his dark figure drew close and wrapped his fingers around yours.  
  
He gently stroked the back of your palm as you fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The two of you are still going to be together, in case that was confusing. It's just gon be a long distance thing, bc honestly it seems a little out of character for Zenyatta to drop everything for one person.
> 
> EDIT, I should also probably mention that the long distance thing isn't until the two of you leave Overwatch, I'll prolly talk about it a bit more in the sequel.


End file.
